against taliban and the kind of structure that we need to support going after al qaeda on the border of pakistan and afghanistan. perhaps it is time to shut down $17 billion worth of money going for reconstruction projects when our track record really stings when it comes to reconstruction projects. i hope that you all will convince me that i have become cynical and angry and frustrated about the way we are spending money in theater. i am looking for good news, and i hope we hear some today. but i think it is time for a guest check because i have too many people in missouri saying why can we fix this road? then i look at the practice we are building in afghanistan and it is hard to explain to them why we cannot fix that road. because we cannot afford it, but yet we can throw money away in afghanistan on projects that are not sustainable. if anybody had spent time thinking about it in the first place, they would have realized that. that kind of accountability has to be present. i am pleased that we have a number of witnesses today that are going to testify to contracting in theater. let me say th